walking and listening to elliott smith

One of my favorite fall memories is from fall of 2002. I was nearing the end of my undergrad years at OU in Norman, Oklahoma. A few months earlier, in spring, I had taken my first trip overseas, my first flight alone. As spring ended my friend Emily and I drove through the night from Oklahoma to Estes Park, CO for a week of camping, hiking and backpacking. By the time fall rolled around I was doing alright. I had a steady job working at the library on campus. I was single and had a small group of friends. My cat b. was only a little over a year old. Fall was good that year in Oklahoma. The appropriate chill filled the air and chimneys started to smoke. I have always loved Oklahoma sunsets and I fell even deeper in love with the bruised skies and late golden sun. I lived off campus in a slum apartment complex called Dutch Hollow. I lived right by the road and used to worry (or hope?) that a car would come crashing through my bedroom wall. It never did. That fall I drove to campus and found a new place to park my car (you know how parking goes around college campuses... if you take a car you either have to pay for parking or find a side street no one knows about). I found a side street in a quiet neighborhood, not too far from the library, but still a good walk. I loved walking through this neighborhood to and from class and work. It reminds me a lot of my neighborhood now, in the upper midwest. But then, in Oklahoma - having grown up on a farm in the country - walking through a neighborhood filled with leaf covered lawns and door to door Craftsmen bungalows was an absolute dream come true. Pumpkins on porches, swaying goblins and witches hanging from eaves, flickering candles and strings of lights decorated my path. The sidewalk was stamped WPA every few feet. These were other people's homes, but looking in the windows and passing by the gates, they were all mine... just for me. I fell into a melancholy glow (or emo glow... either one) and listened to a lot of Elliott Smith that Fall. little memories.

you got a look in your eye
when you're saying goodbye
like you wanna say hi
-baby britain/e.s.